Egyptian Kushari

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What do you think of when you hear Middle Eastern Cuisine?

Falaffel? Hummus?

What about Kafta? Shakshuka? Or a dish named after it’s cooking vessel: a Tajine?

Before this week’s Sunday Supper was announced, I hadn’t heard of much more than falafel and hummus. But, Amanda from MarocMama (this week’s host) has a talent for pushing others out of their comfort zones and teaching them to love Middle Eastern culture and cuisine as much as she and her family do.

And we are so grateful to her for it.

You may remember last month when we started exploring Middle Eastern food for a guest post over on Amanda’s site. Our eyes were opened to the world of Tajines and the delicious, sweet and savory combinations often used in Moroccan food.

The Sunday Supper crew has expanded the lens broader than just Morocco today, to foods of the Middle East as a whole. If you’re like me and need a visual, below is a map that helped me get my bearings a bit. We are including the North African countries, as well as Turkey (the unlabeled county above Syria).

From a culinary standpoint, this is one cool region.

Digging back to grade school history, I remember learning that part of this region was originally known as the Fertile Crescent, and for good reason. Wheat was first grown here, followed by other crops like barley, pistachios, figs, dates, and pomegranates.

And, they discovered fermentation. So, we couldn’t leaven bread or make beer without their genius!

Because of all this, you will find a lot of wheat, rice, and barley in Middle Eastern dishes. Other common ingredients are lamb, eggplant, and chickpeas.

Today, we’re sharing Kushari, a meal that some would call Egypt’s national dish.

This is a traditional dish that dates back to the 1800s when, at the end of each month, families would have a little of this and a little of that left in their pantries. The remnants were thrown together into a hearty meal that in recent years has become a widely popular street food.

Tim likened the Kushari to a Middle Eastern version of Cincinnati Chill: noodles, beans (lentils and chickpeas), and tomato sauce. And, it seems that each variation of Kushari can be a bit different: with chickpeas or not, with onions or not, etc.

If you are making this from the ground up, it does take a lot of pots and pans. We have tried to simplify it as much as we can here, but the best bet seems to be a little planning ahead. If you have some leftover rice and pasta, and a can of chickpeas, then the sauce and lentils become the only things that really need to cook.

The Sauce: Heat 1 tsp oil in a small saucepan. Add onion and garlic and sauté until soft, 2-3 min. Add remaining sauce ingredients and bring to a boil. Simmer sauce 20 minutes.

The Lentils: While the sauce is simmering, in a medium saucepan bring 2 cups of water and the lentils to a boil. Simmer 20 min, until tender. Drain any excess liquid

The Pasta: In another medium saucepan, bring 1 quart of water t a boil. Add pasta and cook, uncovered, 10 minutes. Drain pasta and toss with a little oil to keep it from sticking together while the rest of the dish is being prepared.

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I love that you provided a map to chart out the Middle East. It really gives us a sense for why there’s such a range in the food, but shares a similar core. I’ve never heard of Kushari and am always open to new Middle Eastern foods – thanks for sharing this one.

Koshari is one of our favorite meals. I was first introduced to it by an Egyptian friend when I was living in Kuala Lumpur. She made it for my leaving party when we were moving to Cairo, and she included the typed-out recipe. Of course, while we lived in Egypt, we ate it many more times, both at home and in restaurants. I love that you have shared this with the Sunday Supper crowd and all of your readers. Despite the many pots it takes, I hope that everyone will try this delicious meal.

Thank you for the map, the reminder about the Fertile Crescent and the burgeoning business of good food! Your kushari looks and sounds great. Wonderful recipe to have when one (like yours truly) has leftover pasta or rice =)

Interesting how different areas have their certain dishes made to clean out the fridge. It sounds worth it to go through the steps if you don’t have all of those leftovers ready to be used. Nice flavors in it.

This is one of my very favorite dishes, that I don’t get to eat often enough with having a celiac in the house. It’s so filling and really comfort food at it’s best. I’m so glad you’re enjoying cooking Middle Eastern foods!

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